


in the arms of an angel

by countthestars



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Firefigher Liam, M/M, criminal lack of niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 20:16:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1022934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/countthestars/pseuds/countthestars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Firefighter Liam Payne poses for a calendar to raise money for charity.</p><p>(that's it, that's the fic.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	in the arms of an angel

**Author's Note:**

> based off this [tumblr](http://quitefinished.tumblr.com/post/57970252431/local-fireman-liam-payne-goaded-by-his) post
> 
> title from sarah mclachlan's angel.

This is the third time this week he’s been called out to the same house and really, Liam thinks, it’s starting to get a little ridiculous.

He looks up at the leafy branches and can just make out a tuft of white fur. There’s a low whine that sounds like someone’s dying, and yeah, that’s the cat all right.

“I don’t know what gets into her, Liam, honestly.” Louis says apologetically, shooting him a charming smile. Or maybe it’s a regular smile and Liam is, what’s it called, _projecting_.

It’s probably not very professional to think about the intentions of people's smiles while he’s on the job, though, so Liam firmly pushes the thought to the back of his mind and focuses on the task at hand.

“Have you considered maybe making her an indoor cat?” he offers politely. Or getting a dog, he thinks. Never once has he been called out to rescue a dog that’s managed to strand itself in a tree.

“That’s a great idea, fantastic really, but the thing is, she’s a hunter, yeah?” He exchanges a glance with Harry that Liam can’t quite read. “Shreds the drapes if she can’t get out and, um, kill something.”

And, yup, Liam is definitely a dog person.

He sighs before heading back to his truck to get the ladder out of the back. It occurs to him as he’s leaning it against the tree trunk, checking to ensure the bottom is firmly supported, that it’s not normal that he’s on a first-name basis with Harry and Louis.

As the only full-time paid employee of the mostly volunteer fire department, his usual calls entail, you know, actually putting out fires. They don’t typically involve exchanging names. Or numbers. Louis had assured him, though, it was strictly for professional reasons. What if Fluffy got stuck someday when Liam was off duty? How would Liam be able to sleep at night, knowing that he had left an innocent kitty stranded and scared, high up in a tree?

It was possible Louis had been guilt tripping him.

Liam was here now, though, after a frantic call on his only day off this week. He’d scrambled out of bed, still half asleep, and driven straight to Louis’ after throwing a ladder in the back of his pickup.

Maybe he was only imagining the look of adoration in Louis’ stupidly blue eyes when he’d pulled up out front, but, well, he would keep that detail to himself, wouldn’t he?

He’d been unsurprised to see Louis’ curly-haired boyfriend standing there with him, waiting for his arrival. At least, he assumed they were dating. No one in a platonic relationship touches each other that much.

Whatever. It’s not his business anyway.

Gritting his teeth, Liam starts climbing. He’d learned after the first rescue to keep his heavy fireman’s jacket on, but since he hadn’t come from the fire station, he’d had to make due with throwing a zip-up on.

His arms still sport scabbed-over scratches from when Fluffy dug her claws into his skin and he’s really not looking forward to adding to the collection.

“Ever considered getting her declawed?” he asks as he reaches the top of the ladder and his eyes are finally level with Fluffy’s. She’s glowering at him, if that’s a thing cats can do.

“Oh no, Liam, we could never do that.” Harry sounds distraught at the suggestion. “Do you know what declawing _does_ to a cat?”

Liam doesn’t know. He doesn’t particularly care, either. He reaches an arm out cautiously and Fluffy hisses. Super.

“Be careful, Liam!” Louis calls from the ground, concern lacing his voice.

Narrowing his eyes, Liam reaches out again, this time with grim determination. He’s a fire fighter, damn it, and he won’t be undone by an eight pound ball of fluff.

He takes it back immediately when Fluffy latches her, _ow_ , fucking sharp claws into his arm. Holding her to his chest, Liam backs down the ladder as fast as humanely possible.

The moment his feet touch ground, Fluffy twists out of his arms and goes streaking towards some nearby shrubbery. Louis looks entirely unconcerned.

At Liam’s pointed look, he shrugs. “She’ll be fine. She’ll have a good sulk for a few hours, come home in time for dinner.”

“Yeah,” Harry agrees. “Besides, we’re really responsible pet owners. She’s been spayed and everything.” He beams as if this detail is particularly important to Liam’s life.

“That’s, uh, that’s great,” he says.

Harry’s smile grows even wider and his dimples threaten to take over his face. “It is great, Liam. Do you know how many unwanted dogs and cats are put down every year because they can't find forever homes?” He launches into a passionate speech about the ethics of responsible pet owning. Louis fiddles with his phone while Harry’s slow voice rambles on and suddenly a tinny-sounding version of Sarah McLachlan’s _Angel_ starts playing.

Harry doesn’t bat an eye, just comments _nice song, Lou, I really like this one_ , before informing Liam that there’s a charity drive next month for the humane society. “They’re raising money to offer a free clinic to have pets spayed and neutered, isn’t that wonderful?”

“Yeah,” Liam agrees, wondering how his Saturday afternoon has turned into a live action infomercial. “The fire department has actually considered, like, putting out a calendar for charity,” he offers inanely, because that damn song has triggered images of sad-eyed dogs and he doesn’t want to give Harry the impression that he hates animals or something.

“A _calendar_ ,” Louis’ eyes gleam and his smile grows a little terrifying in its intensity. “What a lovely idea, Liam! When is it being released?”

“Oh, no, no, you misunderstand,” he says quickly, “we just thought, but like, we don’t have a photographer, or you know, the, er, logistics…” he trails off, hands raised in an apologetic gesture.

“What a small world. One of my best friends runs a photography studio. Can do all sorts of stuff; calendars, portraits, coffee mugs. I even have a t-shirt with Harry’s stupid face on it.”

“It’s true, he does.” Harry confirms agreeably, apparently unconcerned about the insult. Liam thinks they might be the oddest couple he’s ever met.

“Oh, that’s,” Liam starts, desperately trying to think of a way to steer this conversation back into safe water.

“You know,” Louis says conversationally, completely ignoring him, “we’ve missed the most important detail here. Which month would Liam be?”

“ _What?_ ” No, that’s not—no one said Liam was going to _be_ in the calendar. Which does not even exist. Besides, why would anyone want to look at a picture _him_ , let alone for an entire month?

“You look like an August,” Harry decides, as if people can even look like months.

“Definitely,” Louis agrees. “Maybe a September, too. What’s the policy here, Liam? How many months do you get?” He pokes Liam, hard, in the abs. “Maybe these should get their own month, eh?” He waggles his eyebrows in a ridiculous gesture that Liam absolutely does not find attractive.

This whole conversation has gotten so out of hand. Liam’s feeling a bit overwhelmed. “What? There’s no policy, this doesn’t even exist, I’d have to check with the fire captain—"

“Of course, Liam! You make sure it’s okay with him, and Louis will talk to Zayn. It’ll be great,” Harry smiles beatifically.

“I’m calling Zayn now,” Louis says, phone already to his ear. He catches Liam’s eye, shoots him an outrageous wink.

Harry claps excitedly. “Think of all the pets you’ll save!”

Liam is so, so screwed.

*

A week later he finds himself at the fire station even though it’s his day off. The fire captain had approved the idea wholeheartedly, saying it was for a good cause and the press might help them get their own donations.

Louis’ photographer friend Zayn had insisted on having the photo-shoot at the station because he wanted realistic props. Liam had tried to point out that the fire truck wasn’t actually a prop, but a real working vehicle, but Zayn had just shushed him and continued his enthusiastic conversation with Harry about the lighting.

It’s all a bit over Liam’s head, so he gives up and wanders away to where Louis is fiddling with various tools on the station’s work bench. Louis seems to have an insatiable need to touch everything. Liam watches him for a moment, getting a bit lost in the cut of his cheekbone.

“So, how’s Fluffy doing?” he asks when he realizes he’s been staring silently like a creep.

“Fluffy?” Louis echoes absently, picking up a pair of pliers and squeezing the handle a few times experimentally.

“Yeah, um, your cat? I haven’t gotten a call recently. She been staying safe on the ground?”

“Ohh, _Fluffy_.” Louis turns and shoots a beaming smile at him. “She great, Liam. Absolutely wonderful.” He reaches out and grips Liam’s bicep, squeezing at the bulge of muscle. “You’re a true hero, you know.”

Liam smiles back at Louis, because it’s impossible not to. Without breaking eye contact, Louis’ other hand darts out and twists his nipple.

“Ouch!” Liam exclaims in a totally dignified way. He rubs his chest while Louis cackles. “Gotta be quicker than that, Li.”

Liam feels his heart skip a beat at the nickname, but before he can process the significance of it, Zayn’s calling him over. He must have figured out whatever the critical lighting issue was, because he’s directing Liam and the other firefighters into position to begin the shoot.

The problem, Liam realizes with a sudden feeling of panic blooming in his chest, is that no other firefighters have shown up. The guys on duty all begged off, responsibly saying they couldn’t very well model for a photo-shoot while on duty, could they? Not even the fire captain had deigned to make an appearance, clapping Liam on the shoulder earlier and saying, “This project is in good hands with you, son. I’ll trust you to keep it tasteful.”

Liam gulps.

He glances over at Harry and Louis, the former gesturing wildly with his hands and mumbling something about all the sad kittens they’re going to save. Right, Liam thinks. This is for the kittens.

He squares his shoulders and nods to Zayn, signaling he’s ready to start.

*

Zayn may have made some questionable choices in life, namely being friends with Louis, but for what it’s worth, he’s a great photographer.

Well, Liam assumes so, anyway. Zayn won’t actually let him see the pictures he’s taken, says Liam will get in his own head and ruin the organic quality of the shots, whatever that means. But he’s done a great job of coaching Liam, making him feel less self-conscious as he poses in various places around the station.

“That’s great, Liam, just perfect. Only could you flex your arm a bit more? The composition’s a bit off—perfect, just like that.”

Harry and Louis are watching quietly from the side, though Liam can hear an occasional whisper and Harry’s quickly muffled bursts of laughter. Louis had started the shoot by shouting out increasingly more obscene suggestions until Zayn had threatened to throw him out, muttering something about artistic integrity under his breath.

Liam thought Zayn’s usual line of work included taking pictures of crying children for holiday portraits, but Zayn seemed to take his art a bit more seriously.

Zayn’s paused to readjust one his shiny foil things, Liam’s not sure what they’re called and is too self-conscious to ask, when he realizes that Harry and Louis’ near constant giggles have died out.

He hears “what does this do?” about two seconds before he’s hit square in the face with an ice cold stream of water. He splutters for a minute, his white t-shirt soaking through almost instantly, before the water is cut off as abruptly as it started.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Louis says. He doesn’t sound sorry at all.

Liam turns to Zayn, ready to apologize about the delay and offer to change into a dry set of clothes – they haven’t taken enough pictures yet for the whole twelve months, and Liam knows how important it is to Harry that they’re able to put out this calendar – but Zayn cuts of his protest.

“No, don’t move, Liam, the lighting is perfect. Maybe if you lounge back just a bit, try not to look so stiff…” Zayn trails off, the camera clicking away.

Liam doesn’t move, just looks down at sopping shirt and the way it’s clinging to the defined muscles in his stomach. He feels his cheeks heat in embarrassment.

“Uhh are you sure…?” He waves his hand vaguely at himself, water droplets dripping down the side of his face.

“Please, Liam, who’s the photographer here? Trust me, okay, I know what I’m doing.”

Liam sighs. _It’s for the kittens_ , he thinks, and turns to follow Zayn’s instructions for the next pose.

*

They won’t let Liam see the calendar until the day of the charity event. The fire captain has already seen the final proofs and given his stamp of approval, clapping Liam on the shoulder and congratulating him for a job well done, so Liam can’t even argue that he needs to make sure it turned out appropriate. It’s all so unfair.

He enters the banquet hall where the event is being held with a bundle of nerves in his stomach and looks for the fire station’s booth. He spots Harry’s curly head across the room and starts making his way through the crowd. To his utter confusion, he’s met with numerous stares and excited whispers as he passes through the throng of people.

A girl who can’t be any older than 12 bravely approaches him and asks if he can sign her calendar. Liam starts when he sees his own face smoldering from the cover and it shocks him because he didn’t think he could smolder? He can’t think of a better word for the expression his face though and he scribbles his name across the cover in kind of a daze.

After that, he’s stopped no less than seven times to sign calendars before he finally reaches the station’s booth. Harry catches sight of his no doubt panicked face and pulls him behind the booth, sitting him down in a plastic chair. He hands Liam a bottle of water and waits while he takes a few deep gulps.

“All right there, Liam?” he asks kindly when Liam lowers the bottle and replaces the cap.

“Yeah,” he says. “I just. I didn’t realize it’d be so popular?”

“Popular’s an understatement, mate,” Zayn says, joining them in the booth. “We’ve sold out all the copies we’ve brought and had to take back orders to ship out more.”

Liam’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. “What? Oh my god. Why? I mean.” He doesn’t know what he means.

Zayn grins. “Saved you a copy. Take a look, yeah?” He takes a seat next to Liam and gets out his phone, leaving Liam to own devices. Liam takes the calendar with shaking hands and starts slowly flipping through the months. He has to cover his face with his hands several times and nearly drops it when he reaches July.

July is just a close-up of his abs. He feels faint.

When he gets to December, he slowly flips it closed and places it back on the table.

“It’s really nice, Zayn,” he says finally, tracing a finger over his own face on the cover, because even if Liam feels embarrassed beyond belief at the way the pictures turned out, he had to admit Zayn’s done an incredible job of making him look, well, sexy. “It’s gonna raise a lot of money for the charity, yeah?”

“Hmm,” Zayn hums in agreement, not looking away from his phone.

He finally looks up and catches Liam’s eye, the corner of his mouth tilted up in a knowing smirk. “Louis bought five copies, you know.”

And no, Liam didn’t know. “But I thought. I mean… aren’t him and Harry…?” he trails off, unable to put it into words.

“Those two? Co-dependent as fuck, but no, they haven’t been anything more than friends in years.”

And, oh. That’s. Well.

Zayn’s smile widens and Liam feels like a mouse caught in a trap. “Louis’ not dating anyone, actually. If you were wondering.”

“No, I mean, just, like.” Liam clamps his mouth shut before he can sound even more stupid.

Zayn leans forward, whispers conspiratorially in Liam’s ear. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret, Liam. Louis doesn’t have a cat.” He gets up, sending one last grin at Liam before he saunters away.

Liam barely has a minute to process the new information before Louis is sliding into Zayn’s recently vacated seat. “Where’d Zayn wander off to now? Oh well, whatever, what do you think of the calendar, Liam?” He leers in Liam’s direction. “July’s my favorite.”

“Louis, do you have a cat?” Liam blurts out.

“What? What a stupid question, Liam, of course I have a cat.”

“ _Louis_ ,” Liam repeats, and Louis must hear something in his voice, because he sighs.

“Fine. Fine! No, Liam, I don’t have a cat. Fluffy was a stray that had bad luck with trees. Are you happy now?”

“But if… why…?” Liam has no idea what’s going on. Why would Louis fake having a cat? Why would he drag Liam out to his house all those times if -- _oh_. Everything sort of slots into place and he looks back at Louis as the realization dawns.

“I thought you were cute, all right? I didn’t know if you’d, like, reciprocate or whatever. It’s just, you’ve got these _muscles_ , Liam.” Louis babbles on and Liam’s not really listening.

“I reciprocate,” he says, and Louis keeps talking right over him for a minute until he processes Liam’s words.

“You what?”

“I reciprocate.”

Louis’ grin is infectious and Liam finds himself smiling back.

He leans into Liam’s space, his mouth inches from Liam’s. “It doesn’t creep you out, does it, that I may or may not have bought several of your calendars?” he asks against Liam’s lips.

“It’s for the kittens,” Liam says, and closes the gap between them.


End file.
